Fractal EV-1, excellent expression pedeal, well done design team

L

lqdsnddist

Axe-Master
Got my EV-1 today and thought I'd share some impressions.

First off, its a big sucker. I expected something a bit smaller, along the size of a Crybaby/Mission pedal, but its a fair bit bigger, think more like a Boss FV-500. You can wear a size 14 boot and easily stand on the thing. Its not too big though, but certainly bigger than my EB VP Jrs I'm used to

The sweep and travel of the pedal feels perfect though. A mission pedal doesn't have enough travel for doing smooth swells etc (IMO), where as this new EV-1 has a nice long travel. Too much sweep for doing fast wah stuff though, so Mission still reigns for that application (plus they have the spring option)

Havne't, and likely won't use it as a dedicated volume pedal ever. I'll use a volume block in the Axe, or output level with modifier instead. I really can't see much point in the volume pot in the unit honestly because if you use it like that in front of the Axe then you can't really use it as an EXP because then your always affecting your input volume to the Axe.... Guess maybe they will sell a few to guys with traditional rigs that simply want a big, solid volume pedal. Does that well I'm sure

Overall though I'm really pleased with it. Wasn't cheap, but its well made, feels great under foot, and came shipped in its own little air filled packing sleeve which was cool. Premium product at a premium price but you get what you pay for.

I'd recommend this to any Axe FX owner that wants an EXP pedal, but again, realize it might not the best option for fast whammy/wah type of stuff, but for swells, adjusting fx mix rates, modulation etc, it feels fantastic under foot, and I think this will last a very, very, long time as its built like a tank
 
To each his own, and as I said, I love my Mission pedals for their spring loaded wah usage, but after just 10 seconds of using the EV-1 next to my non-spring SP1 I choose to take the Mission off the board and will be listing it for sale this afternoon. Its simply a night and day difference between the sweep feel and level of control. The actual angle range of pedal travel is fairly similar, and both require a little less toe down angle than the EB, but the major difference is the Mission operates over about 1" of pedal travel range, which is great for fast 0-127 wah use, but makes it very coarse for smoothly blending in effects and such. The EV-1 in comparison has about 3+" of travel range, so you can really tell if your at about 25% mix, or 50% mix etc. On the Mission I find that level of control a lot tougher as its so easy to go from 50% to 100% with as much as a slight bit of extra forward pressure.

Hopefully that all makes sense. Its kind of hard to explain in words, but really easy if your actually stepping on one.

Also, unlike the Boss EXP's Ive owned, there are no dead spots in the sweep, it feels 100% linear (which of course you can change in the Axe parameters if you want to a steep sweep rate for more of an audio taper for swells etc)
 
Im glad it's big. I find my mission to be too small. I actually really like the size of the big boss pedals. I feel like i have more control
 
+1 for that size comparison pic. Very nice to see it in context. Waiting for my name to come up on the list!
 
As far as packing material goes, this is pretty impressive as well. Custom sized sleeve made of air chambers. Feels like you could probably drop it from 6 feet up with no ill effect when its in this sleeve. Nice touch, though perhaps not needed as the thing is built like a tank
 
Here is a "gut shot" as I have gotten a few request for that (hopefully there is nothing against posting that type of shot on this forum?)

Looks like really solid build, and has a very cool pedal tension control
 
Not really any heavier than any other EXP pedal, its a solid built, so its not going to slide around on stage, but its not like 10lbs or anything either, maybe 2-3lbs I'd guess without actually getting out a scale
 
Looks well made, and I'm glad it has the separate volume pot - perfect backup for my "B rig" (Tech 21 Fly Rig).

Also looks like it could be tinkered with to add a footswitch by relocating the sockets if you're not worried about warranties.
 
Today I received two EV-1 pedals. Here's a link to some pictures on my blog, including the obligatory unboxing shots.
Fractal Audio EV-1 Expression Pedals â†￾ John Hendow

In particular, take a look at this shot:
http://www.johnhendow.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/dimensions-small.jpg
I just put the pedal on my flatbed scanner, face down, with a tape measure next to it. This should give you some idea of the dimensions of the pedal.

The pedals are gorgeous. They have reasonable weight, but not to any extreme. They have a fantastic smooth feel through the range of travel. My Ernie Ball and Mission controllers don't have this kind of ideal tension and smoothness. For volume and fine modulation control, these will be ideal; this is exactly my planned use for these two pedals. For wah, or other quick-throw control, I'll be keeping one of my Mission controllers.

My pedalboard flight case is loaded toward the front of the equipment rig, so it would take some digging to retrieve it. At any rate, I am a little hesitant to reconfigure it in the limited time between soundcheck and downbeat. I probably won't get a chance to mount these new beauties until I'm home and can fire up the soldering iron to make proper cables. I'll post a review once I have it all set up.
 
So glad I grabbed a couple of these ( one black one silver). Really looking forward to getting them now after this post!
 
Thanks for all the high praise folks. Spread the word and we'll make more.
Waitlist invitations are going out smoothly and by next week we'll probably have some of these in the store with no wait.
This is the first of many new products we hope you'll enjoy from our growing team.

For those who might want dimensions, we produced this drawing:
http://www.fractalaudio.com/downloads/manuals/ev-1/EV-1_Dimensions.PDF

And here is the product insert sheet:
http://www.fractalaudio.com/downloads/manuals/ev-1/EV-1_Product-Guide.PDF
 
The product guide mentions the control pot as 100K. Not technically wrong or anything, but I expected something in the 10K to 20K range. Can anyone confirm?
 
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